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Pentatonics
Advanced
Pentatonics
Being
inventive with pentatonic scales on guitar
This
is the final pentatonic scales lesson in the series, so make sure
you've first been through the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic
lessons!
So what is there left to look at? Well, now that we
know what pentatonic scales are and how their patterns can be expanded
across the entire fretboard, it's time to focus on:
a)
How to use that fretboard space up the neck for more efficient
fingering and more interesting interval sequences/phrases, and...
b)
How to merge major and minor pentatonics in blues (and other genres
where appropriate).
Let's get started!
Making
better use of "unboxed" pentatonic patterns
 In
the individual pentatonic scale lessons (minor and major) we learned
how to expand those boxed patterns across the entire fretboard.
When
playing higher up the fretboard, where the fret spacings are narrower,
you can use this knowledge to span more fretboard space for more than 2 notes per string,
which leads to more fluid fingering (and therefore speed). Let's look
at an example of how we might finger this:
So
that's part of the same diagram we looked at in the minor pentatonic
lesson. If you don't recognise it, go back to the lesson and
do
some studying! Sorry, I'm not usually this pushy, but just DO IT OK!
If
we stretch our little/pinky finger, we can make use of this wider space
and free up our fingers across those narrower fret spacings (suggested
fingering in blue):
What this also allows us to do is use hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping,
slides and other non-picking
techniques (covered in their own lessons) on a single
string, far more accessibly and fluidly than if we had to negotiate 2 or more
strings with the basic one-pick-per-note.
Click to hear >
Once
you fully grasp this concept of playing across wider intervals on
single strings, the possibilites are limitless! You can now think about
creating runs, like we did on the narrower boxed patterns in the
earlier lessons, but this time across a much wider space.
Let's
try something a little more difficult. We're going to move up the
fretboard slightly and try and span 8 frets per string. 8 frets?! Is
this
possible? Yes, with devoted practice it most certainly is, and very
liberating. Take a look at the below animation for a wide minor
pentatonic exercise...
Keep
that index finger fretted as a base, and you can either pick or
hammer-on/pull-off the proceeding notes, all part of that wide minor
pentatonic shape.
Of course, you can apply exactly the same techniques to major
pentatonic
and any scale.
Give those fingers a stretch. Start
slow and use a
metronome to gradually speed up as
you become more physically confident with this type of playing.
Merging
minor and major pentatonics in the same lick
There's no question that this technique is used predominantly in blues
(which is the backing track we'll be playing over soon!), but there's
no reason why it can't be used in other genres.
Usually, the scale you play has to be major OR minor to be compatible
with the backing chord/progression. However, if the backing music
consists of powerchords
(which are neither major nor minor), or the music in general is
major-minor neutral, then you can mix up the major and
minor tones freely in your lead!
In theory, it's quite simple...
Instead of a straight minor pentatonic lick, add in some tones from
major pentatonic, or vice-versa.
Let's break down the process.
First, we need to establish the key we're playing in. So let's just say
E again. We'll be playing around the 12th fret low E string root.
So from previous lessons we should at least know the basic minor
pentatonic shape, but we also need to know where, in relation to that,
lies the major
pentatonic shape(s) so we can casually slip into it when the mood
strikes us.
Easy! The boxed major
pentatonic shape sits right on top of its minor
equivalent of the same key...
...and because we "extended" those boxed patterns either side in the
earlier lessons, there's not really anything new to learn. You just
have to know WHEN
is appropriate to merge the two, for it to
make sense musically and rhythmically. Ultimately that's down to your
experimentation (and we'll be looking more at lead rhythm ideas in
another lesson),
but I'll give some basic examples...
The key note for major is the major 3rd (M3),
and for minor the minor 3rd (m3).
So it's a good idea to know the relationship between these two key
tones. The minor 3rd is always
one fret lower than the major 3rd. You can switch between them in your
pentatonic licks, using hammer-ons and pull-offs for example. It
creates a very lively, distinctly bluesy sound.
These licks can actually get very complex, but one step at a time! I
recommend the Guitar
Scale Mastery Course for more advanced stages.
Now, when playing pentatonics over a regular 12-bar blues track
(below!), a good technique is to use the "call and response" method
(which we looked at in the previous lessons) - call in minor and respond in
major or vice-versa!
Example:
Obviously I can't show you every possible combination, but hopefully
now you have a taste of what to experiment with when writing or
improvising those dual-personality pentatonic licks!
OK, so let's finally have a jam over the backing track! Listen to it a few times before
you play and get an idea for when the chords change (it's
a very predictable 12-bar blues track). We start on E and, using our
knowledge from this lesson, experiment with call and response, major
and minor split phrases, wide fret coverage etc. Just put the track on
loop in your computer's media player.
Don't focus on playing particularly fast - that will naturally develop
with time. Just think about phrasing your solo and making the sequences
you use meaningful.
Like I said, I can't cover everything, so if you're still stuck, try
the Guitar Scale Mastery Course below for a more comprehensive learning
package.
Enjoy, and thanks for your time!
Download the E blues jam track here >
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guitar scales.
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